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News
Adam Lumley The YamYam 10 Jun 10
Residents in Caldmore, Chuckery, Butts, Highgate and the town centre will be the first to experience the next round of cuts to local authority services. Announcing a “working smarter” project, Council Leader Mike Bird said: “This could revolutionise how we do things”.
A five week root and branch review of service delivery will attempt to secure “major savings” in council spending in the St Matthews ward. Senior council officers will join elected members in an attempt to identify where the cuts will be made in one of the most deprived wards in the borough.
Conservative Councillor Bird, who represents Pheasey Park Farm, said: “This is about putting ourselves in the shoes of the people who use our services. ‘Why do we do what we do? Is it because we’ve always done it that way? Can we offer fewer steps?’ These are all hard questions we will be asking. The recession has hit the country hard. We need to justify every penny we spend to the taxpayer and the working smarter project will help us do this.
“I’ve gone on record as saying that we will have to cut £60 million over the next few years. We won’t make a dent in that by ordering less stationery. We need a top to bottom look at the way we do things. If we get it right first time as a council we can have more satisfied customers, fewer complaints and can often spend less in the long run by sorting a problem sooner. We have some really committed people in our staff. They are as keen as elected members are to do a good job and make a difference.”
This latest cost cutting initiative follows a damning report on the views of Walsall residents expressed in a recent consultation put before the Social Care and Inclusion Scrutiny Committee. The survey found that only 18% of St Matthews residents thought that the council provides value for money and only 29% were satisfied with the way the council runs the borough.
Asked to suggest areas for improvement, people in St Matthews, Paddock, Palfrey and Pleck stated traffic congestion, road and pavement improvements, activities for teenagers, the level of crime and cleaner streets as the top five priorities. The council now has to juggle these priorities with its intention to make cuts of £60million.
Residents have been promised consultation and the review will also seek the views of other organisations including the NHS Trust, West Midlands Police and Walsall Housing Group. The project in St Matthews is hoped to be repeated in other wards across the borough.
News feature
Express & Star 17 Mar 10
Tony Ball is on mission to clear dirty syringes dumped by drug addicts, beer cans and litter from an alley used by children and pensioners living on a Willenhall estate. He got so fed up with the mess along the footpath between Cedar Road and Noose Lane he regularly cleans it up himself…